WhatsApp rolling out disappearing photos and video feature  

  • WhatsApp announced that disappearing photo and video features will be rolled out to everyone using the Facebook-owned app this week 
  • The feature was praised for “giving users more control over their privacy” by Facebook, where media is viewed once and then disappears.  
  • Users will be presented with a seen’ indicator once the intended audience has opened the message.
  • This announcement stems from Facebook’s ‘privacy-focused visionWhatsApp’s default end-to-end encryption from 2016 and joins the WhatsApp disappearing message update from 2020.
  • For more information on the risks of disappearing messages, look here. Also, check out our recent safeguarding guide to WhatsApp here, and for bitesize information on how to block, report and mute on this platform, click here.  
  • Full story from TechCrunch, here

BBC One, ITV and Facebook crowned UK news giants 

  • Ofcom’s latest research into digital news consumption in the UK reports that BBC One (62%) remains the most-used source across all platforms, followed by ITV (46%) and Facebook (36%).  
  • The report states that TV is the most used (79%) platform for news, followed by the internet (73%), with approximately 49% of adults using social media.  
  • TV is most prevalent among the 65+ age group (93%), while the internet is the most popular for news among 16-24s (89%) and those from ethnic minority groups (85%). 
  • Despite its popularity, social media is the least trusted source of news. 
  • This relates to yesterday’s news on Twitter’s effort to tackle disinformation and last week’s FutureLearn’s survey findings of social media being used as a ‘top-up’ to education by those born between 1997 and 2015. 
  • For more information on what you can do about misinformation, click here. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an upsurge in the spread of misinformation, read our blog on how to tackle this. 
  • Full story here

COVID-19 vaccines recommended for 16-17-year-olds  

  • Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), UK experts are set to recommend vaccines to 1617-year-olds.  
  • This would include approximately 1.4 million teenagers, but the date of this new rollout is not yet known.
  • This is in addition to over-12s who have already been offered the vaccine if they have underlying conditions or live with high-risk or clinically vulnerable people.
  • Use our helpful animation and storybook to explain coronavirus to the children in your care. You can find it here.
  • The full story from BBC can be accessed here 

Blizzard Entertainment president steps down